GOP leaning Rush Limbaugh — who has a long history of making incendiary remarks, and is not known to take them back — issued the rare apology on Saturday afternoon, saying he was “sincerely” sorry about his “insulting” characterization of Fluke. But he maintained that the birth control debate was about “personal sexual recreational activities,” not any broader health questions, and compared contraception to sneakers.

{EDITOR’S NOTE: Oh I see, deciding not to have children or prevent giving or receiving STD’s is like buying footwear? Even shoes are just as significant as pills or contraceptives, especially in a temperate climate – there’s winter, apart from more germs in America than the Caribbean, oops! Did I just pull a Limbaugh? Blushes!}

Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University who was advocating for health insurance plans to cover the cost of contraception, became the target of a series of attacks by Limbaugh. Besides calling her a “slut,” he also called her a “prostitute,” said that he wanted her to make sex tapes and post them online, and speculated that she only had a problem paying for contraception because she was having “so much sex.”

{EDITOR’S NOTE: Unfortunately this is where the Dark Side of Free Speech can rear its head, even when people are known and yet they make an editorial remark which borders on slander… In Barbados this can happen too, like the time when in the St John By-Election where was questioned for her running on the basis of ?}

Limbaugh’s comments caused advertisers to flee from his show, and even prompted President Obama to weigh in. The statements also became an issue in the Republican presidential race.